Lotfy A. Zadeh

^{Professor in the Graduate School and Director, Berkeley Initiative in Soft Computing (BISC), Computer Science Divison, Department of EESC, University of California, Berkeley}
 
 

On commencement days such as this one, it is customary to avoid touching upon issues which are contentious or in dissonance with majority-held views. I will take the liberty of departing from this tradition because there are contentious issues that have to be addressed and serious structural problems in our society that your generation is likely to be called upon to solve.
 
 

To put my views in perspective, I should like to note the obvious – I am not a native-born American, as most of you are. But I consider it a privilege to be a citizen of this great country -- a country of vast expanse immense wealth, great diversity, unmatched power and a world leader in almost every realm of human activity. But to me what matters most is that it is a country in which human rights are taken seriously, governance is ruled by law, and decency, generosity and fairness are national traits.
 
 

To say what I said does not mean that all is well. Our society is faced with serious problems that are visible to all: drug addiction, homelessness, extremes of wealth and poverty, alienation and ethnic conflicts. But there are other problems which – though less visible—are likely to cause serious damage to the fabric of our society in the long run. My brief remarks will be focused on two linked problems which fall into this category.
 
 

Many of you will be taking jobs in Silicon Valley, the heart of our computer industry, the industry that is the driving force behind the economic boom that we are basking in now.
 
 

When I ask our graduates who are working in Silicon Valley if they are happy in their jobs, the usual answer is: the pay is good and the work is interesting. But one important element is missing: the sense of security, dignity and collegiality. In Silicon Valley and, more generally, in the computer industry, the working environment is the environment of cut-throat competition. As they say, "In Silicon Valley if you make the mistake of stopping for lunch, you will be lunch". You are hired today but may be laid off tomorrow, with no farewell parties and no regrets. The bottom line is the stock price and not human welfare.
 
 

Something is deeply wrong with our values when elimination of thousands of jobs is greeted with applause by Wall Street, causing the price of stock to go up and, not coincidentally, increasing the value of stock options of company executives. In this climate, executives are not expected to spend sleepless nights when downsizing leads to massive lay offs. Indeed, any company that puts human welfare above profits and efficiency risks serious damage to its competitive position and, possibly, its demise. It is a sobering thought that profits have become the driving force which shapes the dynamics of our society and that money may become the determinant of values by which we live. Perhaps we should pause and ask ourselves if we are doing the right when we exert pressure on other countries to follow our example and abandon their traditions of protection of social rights in the quest for efficiency and stronger competitive position in the global marketplace.
 
 

There is a linkage between this state of affairs and the growing intrusion of advertising and commercialism into all aspects of our lives. A disturbing prospect is that as we move further into the information age and the multimedia, the linkage will become stronger and less amenable to control.
 
 

To many, advertising is the pillar of free enterprise. Up to a point, advertising serves an essential purpose, but like any good thing that is overdone, unrestrained advertising, with its high content of half-truths and untruths, is becoming a force which is corroding our culture and distorting our goals. The pervasive influence of advertisers on TV and radio programming substitutes the size of audience for genuine concern for quality of programs. Catering to the least common denominator leads to programming which focuses on violence, sex ,sport scandal and human interest stories. The amount of time devoted to serious news is declining and the media – driven by the quest for higher advertising revenue—are abdicating their responsibility to inform, educate and inspire.
 
 

In this climate of media manipulation and commercialism, it is not surprising that our young people have become cynical and materialistic. This calls into question our ability to serve as a positive role model for the young in other countries and other societies. Indeed, it is alarming to observe the degree to which intrusive advertising and commercialism have led to a vulgarization of our culture and an abandonment of moral values that led this country to greatness. The not-so-subtle control of our media by advertisers has led to the emergence of consumerism as the dominant influence shaping our culture, our values and our perceptions.
 
 

What is disconcerting to observe is that the pop culture programs which are mass produced by the TV, movie and music industries in the United States are displacing—in the marketplace of other countries—their own products. As in the United States, lowgrade programs, intrusive advertising and rampant commercialism have become the norm in TV programming in Europe and other countries as well. It was Jay Leno who in addressing a European audience had this to say, "We have succeeded in ruining our culture in the United States, and now we are going to ruin your culture."

I am touching upon these issues because they have a definite impact on the outlook and aspirations of the young in or society. A telling statistic is that despite the rising demand for computer science graduates, the number of undergraduate degrees in computer science has dropped 43% from 42,000 in 1986 to 24,000 in 1994. What this suggests is that a declining number of students are entering those fields in which hard work is required. A visible facet of this trend is that pursuit of knowledge for its own sake is increasingly replaced by a quest for education as a ticket to a better-paying job.
 
 

I have used harsh expressions to make my points. The picture I have painted is darker than it should be. I have done this with deliberation to underscore that it is our collective responsibility – and especially the responsibility of your generation – the generation that will shape our future, to do whatever can be done in our democratic society to prevent the corrosive forces of commercialism and consumerism from encroaching on our culture and becoming dominant influences in defining our values, our beliefs and our morals.
 
 

May 25, 1997